..across the room to talk about scenery and hotels.....

As a rule, when we are on vacation we like to stay in nice hotels. By now our requirements include: king bed with white bedding, proper window treatments (trust me, this is important!) spotless lobby, clean look and smell! Is that too much to ask? It does happen though that we come across something like this little cabin near a spotless little town and for some reason we just can't resist to spend at least one night. And so it was this year again. It wasn't fancy but it was cute and clean. As we walked into town for dinner we came across the cactus complete with berries. I think they are beautiful. I don't want to touch them or sit on them but I do like to gaze at these amazing plants! The next day we just had to stop to take a picture of these awesome red rock formations. They look so fantastic with the sun lighting them up. I took some pictures the day before at dusk but they are all blurred for some reason so this is all I have. I have to say they look much better on site than they do on pictures.

Back to the business of choosing a hotel. Some things we look for that we found are tell tale signs of what the room will look like are: if the lobby is not pristine, neither are the rooms. It is a sure sign. Likewise, if the staff are unkempt, so is the hotel. We do not even walk through the front door if we see that there are boxes or whatever pushed up against the window coverings of the office/front desk. If they have junk in the front office or lobby the rest of the hotel will be a reflection of that. Without fail, if you can see disarray through the windows when you drive up to a hotel there will be issues with your room. The condition of planters and shrubs in front of the hotel are another indication of how much care is taken inside. Even better, a drive around the hotel will further illustrate the cleanliness of the hotel. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

...across the room to explore for awhile....

That's it! The holiday is over and it's time to check out the pictures, talk and reminisce a little. For all my family and friends aware of my previously mentioned bird phobia (esp. crows!) I did go into this Bistro and I did eat and no, it wasn't crow! My definition of this year's bike trip is "The trip of many losses". I've never lost so much stuff on any one trip before! We hadn't even left the country when I noticed that one of my boot suspenders was missing. They were genuine Harley, not cheap, and besides, I LIKED them! Some time later I lost the cap for my beer mug used strictly for water or coffee may I add! I cannot ride my bike without some form of liquid to replenish myself so I bought a new mug. A few miles later I lost the top for that one as well. I noticed it was gone when we stopped to commit to memory the most spectacular wall of red rock and in trying to take the ear plug out of my ear so we could hear one another I realized it was stuck in there. This afforded my husband the opportunity to try his hand at some minor ear surgery with my cuticle instrument! He was a smashing success and of course the surgery came complete with appropriate ear plug size instructions!! In Red River, N. Mexico I lost my camera and found it later at the local lost and found centre thanks to a wonderfully honest and good woman from Texas! The holiday wasn't a total loss though. Paging through my journal I see my guy and I had some good conversations. We covered topics like the difference between falling in love and actual love; psychotherapy vs. psychoanalysis; how to celebrate our big anniversary next year; grandbabies, of course, and the books we were reading, among other topics! I enjoyed three weeks of not having to cook and consequently the plethora of restaurants to choose from every day! Can we say HEAVENLY?!! My journal mentions riding under the vast sunny clear blue Wyoming sky; having to dawdle through an extraordinary winding mountain pass behind a group of inexperienced bikers who didn't have the humility to step aside to let others pass (GGRRRRR) and enjoying a good laugh when my husband told me later he had been singing to himself "these are not my people, no no no, these are not my people!"; enjoying the ride through Montana with Ian Tyson's song rattling around in my head "Meet me in Montana, underneath those big Montana skies!" Yeah, we like music! As usual, we met interesting people when we felt like mixing with the crowd and otherwise just simply enjoying our own togetherness!! Whatever shall we do next year?

..across the room for some thought provoking reading...

It's summer! My idea of summer is that the days should be long, slow paced, and they should include colorful salads to eat, blue skies, laziness, sunshine, lemonade, and books! I've already finished a few books and here is the rest of my list of books to read during the next few weeks of summer...."Out of the Depths" by John Newton (an autobiography); "the Six Miracles of Calvary" by William R. Nicholson; "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert; "Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck, M.D.; "Cast of Characters" by Max Lucado. My reading material basket includes a journal for writing down anything I want to make sure to remember, and a Sudoku Book to give my brain a rest!! It also includes my Bible and Oswald J. Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest".

My first pick is "The Road Less Traveled". I've just begun reading it. His very first sentence intrigued me and I have had a hard time putting it down. "Life is difficult" writes Peck. He maintains that once we 'get' that life is difficult, understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult and that's because it just doesn't matter any more. Since life is basically a series of problems that need to be solved we need to discipline ourselves to solve these problems. Peck teaches that discipline involves delayed gratification, accepting responsibilities, dedication to truth and balancing....tools we all have at our fingertips ready to be used to solve the difficulties of life! That's just the beginning. I can't wait to really get into this book to see what else he has to say. His style is easy to read and understand. Who knows....I may even decide to write a book report later :)

Enjoy the rest of your summer and especially your books! I know I will!